This girl is on fire boxing the blue and white flag - ISRAEL21c

When Nili Block steps into the boxing ring for competitions, her favorite song is always Alicia Keys playing "Girl on Fire."

But last month, when the 29-year-old defended his world title in Paris, he replaced it with "Am Yisrael Chai", the nation of Israel lives.

Then, after defeating his Belgian opponent, he took to the podium to accept his gold medal, draped in an Israeli flag, as images of Hamas hostages flashed behind him and Israel's national anthem "Hatikvah" played.

“Now more than ever it is important to show that I am not only here for myself, but also for Israel and for the abducted men, women and children. My duty is to hold the flag high and show it to the world,” Block tells ISRAEL21c, adding that he felt so much support at the Grand Palais Éphémère venue.

The hardest year

Block may look ripped and tough, but he's not afraid to share a vulnerable side.

Speaking to the crowd after the fight, he said the past year has been difficult for him and for the country he has called home since he was two years old, when his family moved here from Maryland.

Last year, his father was diagnosed with a terminal illness and died soon after. Then he suffered a near-fatal neck injury. And the Hamas atrocity happened on October 7th.

With a very specific training program developed by his long-time trainer Beny Cogan (who is also the coach of Israel's national kickboxing and Muay Thai teams), Block was able to rehabilitate himself back to peak condition.

"My duty is to hold the flag high and show it to the world."

Then came the opportunity to defend her 2019 world title (61.5kg class) in France against Helene Connart, "a very worthy opponent with the knockout style of Mike Tyson".

The winning Israeli's strategy was to "move a lot" to make his opponent look heavy and miss punches. This is a form of mental manipulation where you cause her frustration. It's also a way to claim territory."

Start early

Block started kickboxing at the age of 10 after his mother, border police officer Rina, took up the sport to learn self-defense. Block met Cogan while training at the Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.

Despite growing up in a religious Zionist home and attending ULPA (an all-girls religious high school), Block didn't feel out of place practicing there.

“We were Jews and Muslim-Arabs, but there were no politics and prejudices. Maybe boxing is such a physical, contact sport that you have to let go of everything. You can't go against someone with full force thinking you're going to hurt someone."

The third child of seven in what he describes as a physically active family, Block grew up excelling in running and American football, but decided at age 17 to devote himself exclusively to kickboxing and Muay Thai, a full-contact martial art.

That year he won his first Muay Thai World Championship (flyweight) in Bangkok.

Block explains that many Israelis spend long periods of time in Thailand to train and compete. He was there recently for two months at a training camp where he could "eat, live and sleep Muay Thai."

Getting over disappointments

Block has won seven world championships and four European medals in kickboxing and Muay Thai. She is the only female athlete in Israel to hold these credentials and has been awarded Israel's Athlete of the Year six times in a row.

Despite these accolades, he admits that gaining wider recognition is difficult because neither Muay Thai nor kickboxing are Olympic sports.

"It has been hyped for the last 10 years and we were sure for a long time that Muay Thai would be included in the 2024 Paris Games, but this has not happened."

Block, who graduated last year with a degree in psychology from Reichman University in Herzliya, says she's disappointed but won't cry over spilled milk. I'm looking at where I can realize my talent and monetize it."

One of the ways he supports himself as a professional athlete is through the Nili Power Collection line of products available on his website.

Proud of his scars

He has also recently started appearing on the motivational speaking tour in Israel and the US in a talk called "The Apex Predator".

He explains this with the example of a lion hunting its prey while injured.

"Lions may be limping or bleeding, but nothing stops them from going after their prey. This is my life lesson and that's why I was interested in sports. I like the physical demands of being on the edge and out of my comfort zone when the adrenaline is pumping.

"I'm proud of my scars," she says.